The Nickel Boys

By: Colson Whitehead

Narrated by: JD Jackson, Colson Whitehead

Length: 6 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION 2020

The Nickel Boys is Colson Whitehead's follow-up to the Pulitzer Prize- and National Book Award-winning best seller The Underground Railroad, in which he dramatises another strand of United States history, this time through the story of two boys sentenced to a stretch in a hellish reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida.

Elwood Curtis has taken the words of Dr Martin Luther King to heart: he is as good as anyone. Abandoned by his parents, brought up by his loving, strict and clear-sighted grandmother, Elwood is about to enroll in the local black college.

But given the time and the place, one innocent mistake is enough to destroy his future, and so Elwood arrives at The Nickel Academy, which claims to provide 'physical, intellectual and moral training' which will equip its inmates to become 'honorable and honest men'.

In reality, the Nickel Academy is a chamber of horrors, where physical, emotional and sexual abuse is rife, where corrupt officials and tradesmen do a brisk trade in supplies intended for the school, and where any boy who resists is likely to disappear 'out back'.

Stunned to find himself in this vicious environment, Elwood tries to hold on to Dr King's ringing assertion, 'Throw us in jail, and we will still love you.' But Elwood's fellow inmate and new friend Turner thinks Elwood is naive and worse; the world is crooked, and the only way to survive is to emulate the cruelty and cynicism of their oppressors.

The tension between Elwood's idealism and Turner's scepticism leads to a decision which will have decades-long repercussions.

Based on the history of a real reform school in Florida that operated for 111 years and warped and destroyed the lives of thousands of children, The Nickel Boys is a devastating, driven narrative by a great American novelist whose work is essential to understanding the current reality of the United States.

©2019 Colson Whitehead (P)2019 Hachette Audio UK

Really amazing but not for the light hearted

The overall book is amazing. The plot, the story, and especially the characterization of the characters. To really enjoy this book you need to understand that all the names of books,speeches, names and even e by all give a deeper context and are mentioned for a reason. There are dark themes and events that are described in beautiful detail, that will hover in your mind for a while after. The twists throughout the story keep you on your toes and you never know what expect. Love the book and would recommend!

Dreary and repetitive.

Every great story has question that needs to be answered. This book poses no question and is simply a recitation of the life of the main character. There is no reason to turn the page as one page sounds like the next. I’ve no idea why everyone raves about it. My book club all felt the same.